Bridges
by Ladykestrel
Summary: As Brass fights for his life, Grissom and rest of the CSI team rally around him in his time of need, including the help from an unlikely but eventually significant source, as well as Gil and Sara sharing a unique moment.
1. Chapter 1

"**BRIDGES"**

**Episode Influences: "Bang Bang, Way to Go, ABRTI I-II"**

**Acknowledgement: David Ruis "True Love"**

**Rating: M**

**Disclaimer: All rights to CSI belong to Anthony Zuiker, CBS, Alliance Atlantis; no copyright infringement intended.**

** A/N: This is a prequel introduction of a new OC to the CSI team.  
**

Chapter One

"Greater love has no man, than to lay down his life for a friend".

He would keep Jackie safe, die if necessary to keep her safe, as he said "Jim" loudly. She was young and had her life ahead of her. Brass suddenly felt tired, thoughts of Officer Bell weighing on him heavily, trying to reason artfully and get Jackie out unharmed. Willie Cutler was not going to let that be.

The thundering sound of two shots caught him off guard for a fraction of second. He felt as if kicked by a mule as he lost his balance and fell backwards to the floor. One bullet lodged in his Kevlar vest, as Jim felt a searing pain as the other bullet went into the right side of his chest. 'I'm hit', he thought detachedly, as the rest of the SWAT team burst through the door, opening fire on Cutler and sending him into oblivion. Jim was fighting to breathe, choking on the blood filling his throat, his right hand reaching out.

Brass was put on the stretcher and rushed to an ambulance in moments, Warrick staying alongside him. Brass tried to weakly raise two fingers as the oxygen mask prevented him from talking. He felt himself slipping away…

The hospital trauma team was on standby awaiting his arrival as he was hurried through the emergency room to be transferred to the trauma table. Monitor alarms were shrilling, his heartbeat erratic as he heard the doctor bark orders while seizing the defibrillator. Brass felt the lightning in his chest again as the shock paddles were applied repeatedly, his body arching in response to the electric current surging through him, the doctors and nurses frantically working over him to restore his heart rhythm.

A short time later at the hospital outside Jim's ICU room, Gil waited in the hallway…his mind returning to a different time in Brass' office as Brass spoke of Ellie, then being asked to accept the responsibility as Jim's power of attorney. The trust of their friendship never being more evident than at that moment as Gil accepted the paperwork.

Darkness enveloped Brass. Voices he could hear but not see echoed around him. He wanted to move, speak, simply open his eyes, but could make no sound, hearing the beeps or clicks or whooshing of the ventilator and other monitor equipment. Vaguely, he could hear Gil speaking with a doctor, discussing treatment options or complications or not doing surgery. Gil would take care of things, he trusted Gil with his life.

After discussing it with Jim's doctor, Grissom approved the surgery while at the same time calling Ellie to ask her to come see her father.

Brass remained unconscious as he was taken from his ICU room for emergency surgery. Jim found himself standing in a beautiful garden. He remembered it from his childhood back in Jersey. He would play hide and seek here as a boy with his brothers while visiting his grandmother. He heard a voice but couldn't make out what was being said. He walked toward it. The air was perfumed with the scent of flowers – roses, lilies, tulips, carnations, irises, daffodils. The voice continued but he saw no one.

"Where are you?" Brass finally asked irritably.

"You must wait for a time here…the veil remains in place. I stand guard over you," said the unseen Presence.

"Am I dead or something…where's the harps and angels?" Brass asked sarcastically.

He sensed amusement from the other Presence as the reply came. "You stand on the bridge _**between**,_Jim Brass, but in this place you may find the strength to return."

Brass could now hear another voice that was soft and melodic in the distance. He strained to make out the words but could not. Yet he felt peace flowing into him like fine wine that caused him to feel warm and safe with renewed strength. He did not want to leave this place of serenity for a while. He touched a single white iris that caught his eye, marveling at its softness and light fragrant scent.

Gil had finally gotten Ellie to come to the LVPD under protest to her father's office. She sat down insolently and put her feet up on his father's desk, as if daring Grissom to say something. Her attention was caught by the picture on Brass' desk. She saw a smiling little girl in a ponytail making a picture with crayons…a picture for her daddy she remembered. Her facial expression became wistful with a faint smile. Gil was attempting to see a crack in Ellie's façade and believed it had just occurred.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lightning creased the sky in Dallas, the thunder roaring behind the flashes in the black night. The storm's wrath was just beginning.

Iris was awake in an instant, her eyes trying to adjust to the contrasts of darkness in her bedroom and the blazes of light outside.

"Who's there," she whispered, sensing a presence in her room.

"You are needed," she felt rather than heard the voice.

"What am I to do?" she whispered again.

"You are to intercede for a life hanging in the balance, becoming a bridge," continued the unseen Presence, "as others close to this person are already doing. There is a battle for life being fought. Evil has been done but good may still come of it. What you do will help the outcome."

Wrapping herself in a quilt, Iris padded out to her favorite sitting place, her grandmother's ancient rocking chair.

"Help me know what to say," she said into the darkness.

Closing her eyes, Iris lifted up this person unknown to her. She asked for healing and strength of the body, peace for the mind and heart, revival in the soul. She felt herself breathing deeply in and out for them, felt her heart beating strongly for them, helping stand in the gap with those who were closest. She willed them to fight for life. Stay with us, we care, you are needed here, cross not over the bridge, she said silently to the night as the storm continued to rage outside.

As the hours passed, Iris maintained her vigil and finally reached a point where words failed her. Her heart took over as no more words were needed. Her tears fell like the drops of rain outside; wetting the quilt snuggled about her. The storm had finally abated and dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. Iris finally wiped her tears away with her right hand, seeing it held in the letter sign of "B". She didn't know what to make of that as she left the rocking chair to go out on her porch and see the sun as it arose into the eastern sky.

Looking up, she beheld a faint rainbow, the symbol of promise, and heard the voice again from earlier that night. "The worst has passed and light has won over darkness. The soul that hung in the balance will have its full measure of days." As Iris gazed at the rainbow (which her name meant and also symbolized a bridge), she found herself wishing the other person a long life filled with joy and happiness before she went back inside to sleep a little while before heading to her CSI lab. "Let not your heart be troubled," she murmured, before drifting off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Jim was coding again. The medical staff rushing to his bedside to stabilize him which occurred after the prompt administration of medications but not requiring the shock paddles. Grissom, Catherine and Ellie watched the drama from outside the ICU bed area. Ellie clutched Gil's arm, agonized over seeing her father in this state. However, to everyone's surprise, Jim's condition suddenly stabilized and he was able to finally open his eyes. He saw Ellie and motioned to her, trying to bridge the gap that separated them. She could no longer bear to see him this way and fled down the hallway.

A little later Brass felt up to having one visitor allowed and Gil was permitted to go in.

"Hey," Brass managed to finally say to Grissom.

Gil stood beside his best friend. "Hey. Have some water".

Brass gratefully accepted the water from Grissom but could only manage a tiny sip. He knew he had seen Ellie and made eye contact with her, even though she had left abruptly. Her presence gave him hope in spite of their turbulent past. What strange dreams he had had, probably from the meds and anesthesia from surgery, like a hallucination but those two distinctly different voices.

"Thanks for not pulling the plug," Brass said, his voice still raspy from the ventilator tubing.

"Your fan club's here," said Grissom, his own voice gruff.

Feeling weak as a kitten, he could only manage raising two fingers up in a "V" and crack a smile to rest of the CSI team. He saw Catherine hugging Doc Albert, Sara embracing Warrick and Nick, and even Greg looking relieved as well. The dull ache he had carried for so long inside was fading, ebbing away. He felt like he was new, reborn somehow, that his life did matter and have value. He saw it reflected best in the faces of those outside his hospital room.

As Jim fell back asleep, he again heard the soft melodic voice from his garden dream but this time the words came to him…'let not your heart be troubled'.

Gil's heart-felt sigh spoke volumes. Grissom stayed on a little while longer as Brass fell asleep. He noted Jim's relaxed facial expression of peace and contentment with a slight smile, something he hadn't seen in a long while.

A nurse entered the room with a flower arrangement. Gil asked her where the flowers had come from. The nurse replied they were brought to the nurse's station without a card but requested to be delivered to Detective Jim Brass. The arrangement was beautiful consisting of roses, lilies, daffodils, tulips, carnations, and a single white iris.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

After getting home from the hospital with Gil, Sara opted to take a long shower to relax. She could hear Gil as he compared how most people preferred to view death as opposed to his own, sounding so, well, Grissom. Sara smiled to herself as he went on to say he would prefer to have cancer, to return to the rain forest, to reread Moby Dick, perhaps participate in an international chess competition, but to also have time to be able to say good-bye to those he loved.

She walked out of the bathroom in her robe to find Gil reclined in bed, their bed she thought with delight. Sara knelt down on the floor, her eyes lovingly caressing him from head to toe. "I'm not ready to say good-bye".

"Nor am I, not now or ever where you're concerned," Gil said softly, moving to the middle of the bed and patting it. His eyes were greedy as they took in Sara.

"You have a luv glint in your eye," said Sara to Gil, as she lay down beside him.

"My fantasy has always been you," he said in a low, semi-gruff voice that betrayed his desire, removing Sara's robe off one shoulder.

He bent to kiss the downy-soft skin he had so craved to taste, running the tip of his tongue lightly to the curve of her neck. Hearing Sara's soft gasp at the touch of his lips, he became bolder as he nuzzled and nipped at her neck and down to the front of her chest. He wanted to take all the time in the world with her.

Sara clutched at Gil's head, her fingers tangled in the graying curls.

Gil stopped, his eyes locking with Sara's, desiring to be one with her. Her cocoa-brown eyes were moist as a single tear escaped down her cheek. He kissed it away.

"Hon?" Gil began questioningly, Sara suddenly placing a finger against his lips.

"Let me know the kisses of your mouth. Let me feel your warm embrace. Let me smell the fragrance of your touch. Let me see your lovely face. Take me away with you. I love you; I love you more than life. My heart and my flesh yearn for you. To love you is all I can do. You have become my sole passion. Cause my love to be true." Sara whispered against Gil's lips.

Needing no prompting, Gil gently laid Sara back as he gave a long, lingering kiss. Her tongue danced over his as their kiss became more probing and insistent. Neither one noted or cared how quickly what they wore ended up on the floor. Gil's desire was to be gentle and slow, but having Sara in his arms caused him to abandon all restraint as he bridged the space between them and their bodies surged into one. They were lost in the throes of their lovemaking, Sara's release equaling his own as they sought the total union of body, mind and soul.

Bridges come in different forms in life. It can be the transition from life to death or back. It can be the emotional connection shared between lovers. It can be the special bond between parent and child. It can be the willingness to lift up or sacrifice for another person, known or unknown.

END

I welcome your reviews, input, opinions; et al. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it - LadyKestrel


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